Spraying device.



hop

STATES omer..

THEODOR EIDER, 0F PERKINS,

safiaaizrvivcr nEvIcE.

s'pecincatiqnpftettersPatent. I 15a` ntedDecQillO-,lflg applicati@ inea March 2o,

in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented newv and useful Improvements in Spraying Devices, of

'wlii'ch the following is a specification. 1

, This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883,-Chapter 143 (22 Stat., 625), and the invention herein described and claimed maybe used by the Government of the United States or any of its oilicers-or employees in the prosecution of work for the United States, or by any person in the United States, without the payment of any This invention relates to the spraying of vines and the like, for the purposeof destroying the plant parasites. l

The object of the invention is to provide a -I 7. simple, 4cheap and practical device for spraylngl plants and trees, which will avoid the usualcumbrous power apparatus, and the, uncertain vhandoutfts, all as will; be more fully explained hereinafter.v v

In the growing of hops the vvines are f trained to grow on overhead wires and sup-4 porting strings, and the v hops-:often attain a height of froinffteen `to twentyf'ee't, and grow in very thick masses. It is not possi ble to spray these vines from a vehicle which is moving continuously, and consequently,l

pumps whichare operated by the wheels of the moving vehicle are impractical for4 this purpose, besides being cumbersome and eavy, andrequiring several horses for 'traction. x

I have designed an apparatus which kcan vbe operated anywhere, aiidunder-any conditions, andfor any length` of time within the capacity of the apparatus which .will require a minimum amount of power to move it about .the field, and-which will accom plish `the work successfully, in "a manner different from, and superior to, a`ny now-in The invention consistsof 'thefparts and the construction and `combination ofpart's as hereinafter more fully described and 4 claimed, having reference to the accompany-' ing drawings, inv which- Figure 1 is a plan of the apparatus.` Fig.'

v2 is a side elevation,`ip artlylfin'fsectinl Fig'.Y

3 is an end elevation'.v Ff '4isa section of' I' a suitable adjustable 'regu ating valve..

Thepresent i uid. This'` tank is.4 'of suitable size, and material, and' mounted upon the wheeled vehicle 2. Ihave foiin'df; that 'satisfactory 'results are obtained whenA tank A- is' builtof sheet iron l inchshell and s iricli'heads and tested tol50 pounds pressure.`a nd has a capacity of about 25()A gallons of mixed spray ready to 'be applied. The tank'is .lled through a suitable 'valve '3 atl..the top,"

which connects withA the 'cross' 4 which turn.` screws on to a..l 'pipe' which penetrates the interiorvof the` tank and extends close to the bottomthereof, land carries a -T under side.`. `One arm apparatus includes a Solution' tank A adapted td'rcontairi'the sprayinvliqe, into which are'screwed the-perforated pipes". n These pipes lleidend lengthwise. of the tank-v and inj closepjuxtapos'ition to the bot- M Atomv thereof, andare `perforated on their' of the cross 4 carries a safety;

valve 8, and the 'opposite arm 1carri'esa small" i flinch pipe 9 provided with-.a regulatingair,

valve l0.- ;Wh'eiiair under pressure: is let 1in-'through the pipe-'9, itfescapes throughthe underneathl perforations lthe pipes?VV .to cause an agitation, of the yliquid 'and -material in suspension'within the` tank. The

vention is l the means .producing thenecl" essary air pressurefin" the .spray-.tank A.

voir 13, charged toaa'ifworkingjjpressure of rovidedwithatwogvvaxhjgh Pressure-. alv 4 one outlet being -rzaril'igmV g pressure; above'ni'entnedgjlloo suing having a gage 17, .andl connected with the `tank A. by means of the i inch pressure hose to take care of any vibration that.` otherwise might cause leaks in the air line. The airbottle is supported in 'any suitable fashion on. the side 'o-f the tank, pref-- erably, as here shown, being disposed horizontally, and resting in a sheet-metal box 1 9 rivetedon to the tank. The connection between the reducing valve and the air bottle is by a suitable, quick-acting, high pressure bronze coupling 20, so as to enable an air bottle to be -quickly connected to, or disconnected from, the tank. Whenever one loutlet for the valve llbecomes-worn where it is connected to the coupling 2O,l the cap is taken 'od from the otherV outlet., the valvereversed, and the cap screwedfon to the worn threads of the previously used outlet.

21 is a suitable pressure gage on the tank,

l. and 22 is a pet-cock to enable the air in the tank to be blown off at any time, preparatory to filling. -v

In practice, the solution tank A having beenfilled with solution through the valve 3 and pipes 5 and 7, an air bottlel is placed in its rest 19 on the vehicle and connected with the tank. The yalve 16 is adjusted so that the pressure on the tank side will be constant, say, 35, 60, 7 5, 100 or more pounds, as desired. The pressure adjustment can easily be changed while the air ispassing from the bottle to the tank. Theair from the storage bottle enters through the flexible connection 18 and small pipe 9, and is led down inside of the tank through the pipe 5 and discharged through the underneathperforations in pipe 7 against the cylindrical bottom of the spray tank. The object of this is to agitate the liquid and prevent settling of spraying solutions that hold substances'such as lime, sulfur, Paris green, etc., 1n suspension. This method of agitation has a great advantagel over mechanical agitation, ysince the air coming 1n constantly under pressure and then being forced against the concaved bottom of the tank, and rising, keeps the solution more comcal ldevices would, lmechanical devices of the yspray tank.

because, as a rule, these only affect certain parts There is no objection to the tank and admitting the air through the saine pipes as here shown.

An air bottle containing one cubic foot of -air at 1000pounds initial pressure (which is .the equivalent of 66 feet of air under ordinary atmospheric pressure) will easily displace 250 gallons of spray and force it out of-the tank at any desired pressure up to 100 pounds. If higher pressure were esired, the amount of spray forced out by one v full air bottle would be slightly less; but 65 there,..is nothing to prevent my changing an pletely agitated than slow-moving mechaniefficiency, for as soon tank having a 'cross valved coupling on cross,- asafetyvalve, on one of the side 'permits this.

. 6r third year.

air bottle at any time without letting any of the air out of the tank, since the valve 10 Of course, it is desirable Ito make-the spi-ay tanks and bottles of such corresponding sizes that a full air bottle will empty a full tank of spray without changing, though a change could. easily be accomplished by closing the valve 10 in the air line, without losing the air under pressure already in the spray tank.

.The advantages of this present system of spraying are best appreciated by practical operation in the field. The average pressure obtained in hand-spraying is only from to pounds; and in power spraying it runs, as a rule, from 6() to 75 pounds. In handpuinpiiig outfits it is practically impossible. to get aman capable of maintaining a steady pressure all day long; and with a pressure of from 35 to 490 pounds, it 'is impossible to reach high-trees or vines, such as hops or the like. One man' pumping can only supply 'one or two hose lines, and the ground covered in a ,day by such an apparatus is veryT limited. A power outfit overcomes part of this difficulty in that it furnishes 'continuously if in a stationary position, it is a well-known fact to all persons acquainted with power spray devices that it takes a mechanic to keep the engine running on a portable apparatus. The air bottles are all charged at one central station at a very small cost, about three cents for power and engineers labor, and can b e coupled on to the spray tank by inexperienced labor, and when empty can be reilled an indefinite number of times.

rl`hese bottles are practically indestructible, while the ordinary type lof power outfit running in the open field gives but very poor service after the second Vlhile the spraying apparatus is being moved from tree to tree, or to a new lot ofvines, there isno `loss of air or as the spray flow is stopped by the stop-cock in the hose line, the air stops enteringI the spraytankon account of the action of the reducing valve.

Having `thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is i A spraying device comprising a wheeled in the top thereof, a the top branch of the The engine trouble is 

